Pain.

My head was yanked backward, agony erupting across my scalp. A hiss slipped past my gritted teeth as I squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry. They'd probably like that.

"Quit being dramatic." Carol's voice came from behind me, as the pain quickly faded.

"You're the one trying to yank my hair out by the roots," I grumbled, feeling her fingers start to work on a knot.

"If you took better care of your hair, I wouldn't constantly hit knots." Carol snapped back and then sighed. "I'm not sure how Victoria manages this."

"Gently. She manages it gently."

We lapsed back into silence as she kept working on my hair.

It was uncomfortable as hell.

The last time Carol had done my hair was years ago. Once Vicky figured it out, she was always the one who handled it. Or I had fought with it myself into something resembling decency. It wasn't enough for Carol, and she was out of practice.

My scalp ached from where she kept pulling too hard and hitting knots. I could practically feel her breathing down my neck. She'd brush against my skin every little bit and I'd get a flash of her biology. She was as uncomfortable as I was, and that made it worse.

The brush snagged again, but she had been going slow this time.

"Do you even use a conditioner?" I bristled at the question.

"Yes, I use a conditioner. It doesn't help much with the humidity… and flying." Carol's fingers stopped for a moment.

"... That's fair." She started again. "I suppose the hair gels Victoria uses to help keep her hair neat while flying doesn't work for you?"

"... I don't like using them," I admitted. "Vicky doesn't need to use that much. I have to use a ton, it makes my hair clump up weird."

"Hm." She finished the knot and started brushing again. "Have you shopped around? Seen if you could find something that'd work better for you?"

"Not really? Vicky suggests something and I try it. She swears my hair looks great with the gel, but like I said, I don't like how it feels."

"She's probably right about the looks." She went quiet for a moment. "I'll have to see if we can find something else before the Gala. This will be fine for tonight."

"Okay." I didn't want to think about the Gala. It was going to suck.

Her hands got back into my hair. She gathered a lot of my hair together, and I could feel the scrunchy pull tight around it. After all that work, she was putting it into a ponytail?

"There. Cover your eyes and hold your breath." There was the shake of a can and I brought my hands up.

I could feel the spray tickle against my skin as she went around my head. It was over sooner than I expected, she didn't use as much as Vicky did.

"There." I uncovered my eyes. She stepped back and motioned to the mirror.

What stared back in the mirror was odd. She'd gotten most of the frizz out, leaving only the natural curls. The little bit of hair spray kept things together but didn't leave it a stiff mess. I shifted my head to the side to look at the high ponytail she'd given me. My neck was visible for once, with most of my hair pulled. There was just enough left out though to keep my bangs and frame my face, though my silhouette was completely different without my hair bushing out to the sides, and the ponytail poking up in the back.

It didn't look bad, on some internal level I knew it looked good. It was probably the best my hair had looked in a while. It just didn't seem right, it didn't look anything like… me.

That might be a good thing though.

I didn't like myself. So if Carol was making me look like someone else. Then why shouldn't I try to accept that? If I were someone else, maybe I would like that person better.

"Don't leave yet, I still have to do your make-up."

~Her Bark's Worse Than Her Bite~

Amy (4:45)

File Uploaded*

Vicky (4:45)

OMG Mom did lot of work!

Amy (4:45)

Figured you'd want to see.

Vicky (4:45)

Gmme deets l8r

Amy (4:46)

I will

"Vicky?" I blinked as Carol spoke, glancing over at her.

Neither of us had said anything since she had finished with my make-up.

Thank God that had been quicker than my hair, just the bare essentials. It accentuated the more attractive parts of my face and helped hide the unattractive parts.

Mixed with the outfit, that same green jacket from the last party, a black turtleneck, a grey skirt that went to my ankles, and a pair of black boots, it was a look I figured Vicky would appreciate.

The wooden bracelet on my wrist was for my comfort.

"Yeah, I figured she'd want to see everything put together." I shrugged and put my phone back into my purse.

"It sounds like the kind of thing that would upset her if she didn't get a chance to see it. I was surprised when she didn't insist on trying to stick around longer to try and help you get ready." Despite myself, I smiled a little at her comment.

Mostly at the thought of Vicky fussing over everything.

"If you hadn't told her to get going, she probably would have." She glanced at me and I realized how I sounded. "Probably would have wanted to try and make it up to me."

"I don't suppose I'm going to learn what exactly happened between you two, am I?" She tried to keep her tone casual, but I was too used to her.

There was a subtle accusation there, and I bristled.

"If Vicky wants to tell you, she can." It felt right. "It's not my place to say."

Carol looked like she wanted to argue, her lips tightening into a thin line before she sighed. Things went quiet again as she refocused on driving.

Huffing to myself, I turned to stare out the window. Watching snowflakes fall from the sky, a light dusting before the heavier stuff that was supposed to come tonight. One landed on the window, and for a moment, I swore I could see its structure before it melted.

It was just a minor distraction from the fight inside of myself. A small, guilty part of me was screaming to tell Carol everything. Vicky's issues with controlling her power, my outings as Sequoia, just unload everything onto her all at once. Then it wouldn't be my problem, it'd be her problem. I couldn't be trusted, so why not use her?

The rest of me told that part to shut up and tried to shove it back into its place. The last thing I wanted was to give Carol more reasons to be suspicious of me. To think of me as less of a daughter. How would she react to me helping Vicky get around New Wave's primary message? That I had been skirting it with my own secret identity?

She might just disown me right there and then.

"Sarah and I used to be like that." Carol's voice jogged me out of my thoughts.

"What?" Her eyes didn't leave the road as I asked that.

"I said, Sarah and I used to be like that." Whatever emotion was in her voice, I didn't recognize it. "If one of us broke the rules or did something our parents didn't like, we'd cover for each other. It felt like it was us versus them, a lot of the time."

"Okay?" I didn't like where this was going.

"Amy." She struggled for a moment. "I don't want to be like my parents. There's a reason why we don't keep in touch. I don't… I know I'm stern, and I know I'm strict, but I do that for a reason. You know that, right?"

"Yes?" This was getting weird.

Carol had a lot of rules, some she cared more about than others. The ones she cared about the most made sense. They were meant to protect us, from what happened to Aunt Jess. She had always emphasized those rules to me specifically.

I was sure it wasn't because I was the most at risk.

"I'm not trying to be mean for the sake of it, hell I'm not trying to be mean at all." This was getting uncomfortable. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't want Vicky… or you, to feel like you have to hide things from me. I'd prefer you not hide anything from me at all but I remember being a teenager."

"Carol, please, can we… not?" This was getting to be too much.

"I'm trying here Amy, you have to meet me halfway for this, I can't force you to tell me anything. Even if sometimes I wish that was my power…" She grumbled that last part, seemingly to herself.

"I…" We stared at each other for a moment. She wasn't going to let this go. I needed to tell her something.

"I hate the Gala." It was the first thing that popped into my mind.

"... Huh?" She hadn't been expecting that.

"I absolutely hate the Gala with a passion, Carol." This was something safe to complain about. "Spend two hours getting ready, wear some uncomfortable dress, plaster on make-up, and coat my hair in enough spray to make it a fire hazard, and for what? To basically be decoration for some rich assholes party, doing fake smiles and shaking the hands of people who've never worked a day of their life."

"Language, Amy." It seemed almost reflexive, even as she… smirked. "But I understand the feeling. If we didn't need the donations those people give New Wave, I'd have insisted we stopped going a long time ago. I think Sarah's the only one who really enjoys the party, she's always liked getting a chance to doll herself up and show off."

"I know why we go, I know it's necessary," I grumbled and turned to look back out the window. "That doesn't mean I like it."

"Neither do I Amy, neither do I. I'd much rather spend the evening back at the house with Mark and Vicky…" There was a moment's pause before she glanced at me. "And you."

"That makes two of us." I snarked back at her. Being an afterthought stung, but we could agree on wanting to spend more time with Mark and Vicky at the least.

"Instead, tonight, it's just the two of us." She remarked back, as we turned onto a street.

I stared at the sheer number of cars that were there. My eyes darted up to Wendy's house, decorated with Christmas lights. People were sitting on her porch, and even from here, I could see people moving around inside.

"I wasn't expecting this many." She didn't sound happy. "Would you happen to know if the McHarlins… told people we were coming?"

"I know Wendy wouldn't…" I couldn't hold back the sigh. "But it sounds like the kind of thing Mrs. McHarlin might do. She's a bit of a…"

"Clout chaser?"

"Yeah, she's a bit of a clout chaser, according to Wendy."

"Well," A long low sigh escaped Carol as she found a parking spot across the street and down from their house. "There goes the chance of a relatively relaxing evening."

"Yeah." I kept staring at the house, trying to figure out how many people were crammed into that house.

We both climbed out, Carol locking the car up as I tried to muster up the courage to walk over there.

"Amy." She stepped up beside me. "Are you going to be okay?"

The question took me back, as I glanced up and over at her. When the Hell had she started caring if I was doing okay or not?

"I'll be fine… I've got at least one friend here, right?" Her face shifted through a couple of different expressions at that, before settling back to casual.

Carol was being weird today, I could deal with that.

We kept quiet as we walked over to the house. It occurred to me that I hadn't talked to Wendy since the trip to the mall. A phone call or two, texting, but not anything face-to-face. A feeling hit me in the gut, something I'd only felt for Vicky.

I wanted to see my friend.

My eyes scanned the porch more closely, desperately hoping she was outside and not hiding somewhere inside. Why hadn't I texted her that we had arrived, rather than getting caught up in that confusing conversation?

"Amy!" My head whipped up as I heard Wendy's voice.

She was on the roof, waving to me.

"Why is she on the roof?" Carol sounded just as confused as I felt.

"I don't know." It was all I could say.

"Wait there, I'll be right down!" She hurried over to the side of the house I couldn't see and disappeared.

"... I forgot how energetic she could be." A small chuckle escaped Carol, and I turned to stare at her. "She was a little hellion back at Victoria's twelfth birthday party. I had to march her and Victoria inside, all they wanted to do was play basketball in the driveway."

"Oh yeah." I had forgotten that. "Vicky tried to keep getting me to play, but I was too tired to keep playing with them. Still don't know how they have that much energy."

"Exercise." I glared at her, getting an eyebrow raised in return. "It's true. If you stick to that exercise regime she helped you figure out, it won't seem so insane to play basketball for over an hour."

"I doubt it." She rolled her eyes as Wendy reappeared around the side of her house.

The last thing I was expecting was for her to rush towards me. I stepped back, eyes wide, as she practically ran into me, arms thrown wide. Her arms tightened, keeping me from pulling away. There was a little deja vu to that time outside of the bakery.

It was easier to respond without a cinnamon roll in my hand, at the least. Wrapping my arms around, I squeezed her tight. My head wound up on her shoulder, and her biology bloomed into my sight as our cheeks touched. It was second nature to avoid looking at her head, but I could sense the increased heart rate and the hormones in her bloodstream.

She was happy to see me.

I couldn't help the smile that came over my face, as some of the tension I hadn't even realized was in my gut eased. The worry that going into that house was causing me didn't vanish completely, but it felt manageable now. It wouldn't be a problem, I had a friend on my side.

God, I had missed her, huh?

"Ahem."

I blinked, and couldn't get out of the hug quick enough. My face burned red with embarrassment. Luckily, Wendy seemed to feel the same way, leaving us awkwardly looking at Carol. She gave us an unreadable expression, eyes darting between Wendy and me before settling on Wendy.

"It's been a bit since I've seen you, Wendy."

Even when Carol didn't try, she was rather intimidating. Wendy jerkily nodded, a blush on her face as she clasped her hands together.

"It has been, Mrs. Dallon. Vicky and I haven't been as close since she uh… couldn't play basketball anymore. Still friends though, hung out two days ago, just um… yeah." She trailed off, fidgeting a bit.

Carol seemed to judge her for a few moments, before nodding.

"You'll have to come over more often then… Can I ask why you were on the roof?" She jerked her head up towards where Wendy was.

"Oh, well, someone mentioned one of the strings of lights wasn't working. Dad worked hard on it, so I figured I could just go up there and fix whatever the problem was. One of the extension cords came unplugged, probably a squirrel or something."

"Your parents let you up onto the roof during a party?" She quirked an eyebrow at Wendy, who somehow blushed more and kicked at the snow.

"... They were both really busy entertaining guests, and I was free, so I figured I'd get it done before either of them felt like they needed to handle it?" She offered, and Carol gave her an unimpressed look.

"Thoughtful, but you should still tell your parents before doing something like that. They would have felt awful if you had gotten hurt and they didn't know." Wendy nodded along, looking guilty.

I was just confused as hell. Since when did Carol randomly Mom other people's kids? She was being really weird today, and I still didn't know what to think.

"Well, we're here, we probably should get inside." Carol seemed satisfied the point was made, and started walking towards the front door.

Wendy glanced at me and I just shrugged at her. I couldn't explain it any more than she could.

"Come on." She smiled at me and nodded towards the door.

"Okay…" I stepped up beside her, hands shoved into the pockets of my jacket.

"Missed you." She murmured, bumping me with her shoulder.

It took me a moment, but I bumped her back, giving her a small smile.

"Missed you too."